SIFF raises $2.8M, moves to Seattle Center home

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is close to finishing a $2.8 million capital campaign, and has finally moved into its new residence on the grounds of the Seattle Center — the first time in its 37 years that it has called a location its permanent home.

“It’s a big Seattle secret: A lot of people don’t know we’re a year-round organization,” said SIFF director Deborah Person. “Yes, we have the 25 days of the Seattle International Film Festival that’s a big focus, but we also have a large community presence throughout the year.”

“And now we have a real home,” she said.

With neighbors such as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and McCaw Hall (home to the Seattle Opera), the film-focused nonprofit says it has landed in exactly the right spot: the hub of Seattle’s “cultural arts.”

“To have this space allows us to really say, ‘Yes, film art is just as valuable as ballet and opera,’” said Barbara Malone, a member of the SIFF advisory committee. “We’re in the middle of Seattle’s art-culture home.”

Though SIFF has had a presence on the center grounds since the 2007 opening of the SIFF Cinema, the organization spent the past 10 years headquartered in South Lake Union. In 2003, SIFF got notice that increasing development in the neighborhood would mean yet again another move for the seemingly ever-wandering nonprofit, which has spent its existence trying to find a permanent home, said Person.

Picking the new home on the center grounds seemed easy. Paying for renovations of a space built for the 1962 World’s Fair wasn’t, nor did SIFF have any experience in major fundraising for a capital campaign.

“It was the first capital campaign in 40 years,” said Person, adding that it was a combination of both small and large donations that helped the organization raise its July mark of $2.63 million. “We had over 1,000 donors, some just giving $35.”

To encourage larger donations, the nonprofit created “Friends of SIFF,” a “not so exclusive” club for those who pledge $15,000 over three years, said Malone. And the perks that come with being a friend of SIFF aren’t a free bag of popcorn and Milk Duds at cinema viewings. “We put on events like ‘Tea with Ewan McGregor,’ or last year was dinner with Edward Norton,” said Malone.

Even with $15,000 donations from the current 20 “Friends of SIFF”— as well as one $150,000 anonymous contribution — raising $2.8 million in five years has been no simple task.

To simplify and conserve, SIFF decided to break its funding up into two phases. The first phase was dedicated to launching the $648,000 SIFF Cinema, a 400-seat viewing center in McCaw Hall that’s open to the public year-round. By 2009, SIFF had raised 50 percent of its $2.8 million goal, and finally broke ground on the Alki Room renovations in 2010.

The 12,000 square-foot Alki Room (located at the corner of Republican Street and Warren Avenue North) will house SIFF offices, classrooms and a 100-seat viewing room with state-of-the-art technology. The space will also be the new home of Seattle’s TheFilmSchool, another nonprofit, where many aspiring screenwriters and directors attend programs and lectures with the likes of actor Tom Skerritt and screenwriter Stewart Stern.

“TheFilmSchool and SIFF have always been sort of together but apart,” said Person. “They’re about making sure films are made, and we’re about making sure they’re seen.” In addition to housing TheFilmSchool, SIFF says it plans to make its space available for rent by other community organizations, as well as the major festivals held at the center.